50 States, 50 Novels- Part 6

Montana – Fools Crow by James Welch (1986)

This historical novel tells the story of a Native American tribe known as the Lone Eaters, charting their struggle for a right to live from the end of the Civil War till the 1870 Marias Massacre.

Nebraska – My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918)

The quintessential Nebraskan novelist, Willa Cather, reveals both the beauty and difficulty of life on the Great Plains in My Ántonia, a novel which many critics and fans consider to be her greatest.

Nevada – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

Hunter S. Thompson’s “Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” peels back the veneer of glitz and glamor coating the famous City of Lights to reveal the Sin City beneath, in this sometimes hilarious, sometimes brutal critique on 20th Century American ideals.

New Hampshire – A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989)

For this New England family epic, John Irving drew inspiration from his own childhood in New Hampshire, as well as from Nobel Prize-winner Günter Grass’ novel The Tin Drum.

New Jersey – The Sportswriter by Richard Ford (1986)

The first novel in Richard Ford’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Frank Bascombe tetralogy, The Sportswriter introduced readers to the troubled New Jersey real estate agent who would become one of the most enduring characters in 20th and 21st Century American literature.